1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a shingle panel or a shake panel and to apparatus for making such panels.
2. Problem
Applying shingles or shakes to a roof or to a sidewall individually is a tedious process and requires considerable skill, dexterity and judgment to select shingles or shakes of appropriate width from a selection of random width shingles or shakes in order to break the joints appropriately between the shingles or shakes in successive courses. In order to insure a weathertight roof, the standards of the industry require that the joints in any three successive courses be offset. The width of such offset can vary but usually is at least 1 1/2 inches (3.81 cm).
Also, the space between the shingles or shakes at each joint must range between a minimum of 1/8 inch (0.32 cm), to allow for expansion and contraction of the shingles or shakes under different temperature and humidity conditions, and a maximum of 3/8 inch (0.96 cm), or at most 1/2 inch (1.27 cm).
In order to provide better control over the factors of spacing between adjacent shingles or shakes at the joints and to expedite application of the shingles or shakes, various proposals have been made for initially prefabricating shingle or shake panels at a factory, which panels are then applied to a roof or sidewall in the field. Difficulties with such panels are in general: they are more expensive than individual shingles or shakes; they are inclined to be heavy; and the problem arises of providing a satisfactory weathertight joint between adjacent ends of adjacent panels.
3. Prior Art
Shingle panels previously proposed are principally of two different types. first, those that have a full panel backing and, second, those that have a partial panel backing. The backing of panels having a full panel backing is usually made of plywood and the panels may have one, two or three courses of shingles.
Panels having a partial panel backing may use plywood or board strips. An example of such a panel is shown in Barker et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,102,107, issued July 25, 1978. In that instance, the backing strips are made of plywood.
If the panels have a full panel backing, it is only necessary to provide upper and lower joints and end joints which will be weathertight. Where a panel has only a partial backing, it is also necessary to be concerned that the joints between shingles or shakes in each course are out of registration with the joints between shingles or shakes at least in the course above and in the course below, and preferably out of registration with the joints in two courses above and two courses below each particular course. In order to assure such break joint arrangement, it has been considered to be essential for the pattern in which the shingles or shakes are arranged to be identical in each panel. Also, such panels would necessarily all be of equal length, usually approximately 4 feet (1.2 meters), but such panels could be 2 feet (0.6 meter) in length.
The panel disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,102,107 is composed of two sets of repetitive shingle widths to make a panel approximately 4 feet (1.2 meters) in length. A principal difficulty with this panel, however, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 12, for example, is that joints between the shingles in one course are in registration with the joints between the shingles in the second course below and in the second course above a selected course instead of such joints being broken for two courses above and two courses below any selected course.
While the shingle panels shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,102,107 utilize shingles of four different widths, it is not clear from the disclosure of that patent how more different widths could be used practically.